Manuel Pellegrini has confirmed that Frank Lampard will begin training with Manchester City at Carrington on Wednesday and be an ‘important’ player for the Premier League champions until he moves to America in January.

City arrive home from the United States on Sunday after missing out on a place in the final of the International Champions Cup when they lost a penalty shootout for the second time in four days.

Afterwards, Pellegrini spoke about the surprise move for Lampard for the first time and insisted that the decision to bring in the 36-year-old England midfielder extended beyond simply keeping him fit to play for City’s New York franchise next year.

Pellegrini said: ‘From next Wednesday he will start working with our team and will play for us until January – we’ll see after that.

‘At the moment he will work with the squad and be a member of the squad. He will fight for a position.

‘He knows we have a very good team, we have a lot of players in his position. He is one player more. We have a lot of games particularly with the Champions League, so he’s very important for our team.’

There have been suggestions that the Chelsea legend would not play against his old club who face City on September 21. Pellegrini added: ‘I will talk about all those things with him but he’ll be a player for City and he’ll play every game he needs to play.

Fanfare: Lampard fights his way through the crowd as he is unveiled as a soon-to-be MLS player

Legendary: Lampard was adored by fans and staff in West London, and is their record goalscorer

‘He’s a player for New York City and we’ll what happens when he comes to us.’

City, who will be joined by the remainder of their World Cup contingent on Monday, will not be particularly upset that they missed out on an opportunity to face Manchester United in the final in Miami following the defeat to Olympiacos.

Successful: John Terry and Lampard lift the FA Cup trophy in 2012 after beating Liverpool at Wembley

Club rivalry: Lampard scores against Manchester City at Stamford Bridge in 2011

New venture: The England international poses with youngsters after his New York unveiling